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Anyone else thinking of cancelling trip to Edinburgh Fringe Festival because of the UK attacks?

Anyone else thinking of cancelling trip to Edinburgh Fringe Festival because of the UK attacks?

Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 02:14 AM
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Anyone else thinking of cancelling trip to Edinburgh Fringe Festival because of the UK attacks?

I am reading that there are ever growing security concerns about the festival, because of the numbers of people that attend. I'm starting to think this is not the year to be stuck in a large crowd, even if all they hear is a car backfiring. What do you all think? I appreciate any input.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 02:33 AM
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At the Edinburgh Fringe, they're more likely to think of it as yet another performance.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 02:33 AM
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I think this topic has been done to death on this board. If you have any doubts, you should cancel. You will feel a lot better.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 03:05 AM
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After 9/11 Bush, Guiliani, et al implored people to come to NY so that the terrorists wouldn't win.

Anyone who cancels a trip because of bomb threats is therefore a friend of the terrorists
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 03:40 AM
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alanRow wrote: "Anyone who cancels a trip because of bomb threats is therefore a friend of the terrorists"

That is an unfair way to represent things, and I say that who is very unlikely to cancel a trip because of bomb threats. It's another version of the "if you're not with us, you're against us" way of oversimplifying complex questions.

Anyone who cancels a trip to the UK in the short term is guilty of no more than being bad at risk assessment.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 03:43 AM
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Actually I was being sarcastic & using Bush "logic" - "you are with us or with the terrorists"
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 03:55 AM
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Sorry, Alan. My filtering system failed.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 04:04 AM
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You can walk down the street and get hit by lightning too...does that mean you never step out of the house?

I was in London last weekend....I went to the theatre on Friday evening as if nothing happened and that was the attitude.

Don't worry about it..there's nothing you can do about it anyway. Do you think any of the Western world is safe from these subhuman savages?
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 04:30 AM
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Hi L,

The most dangerous part of your trip will be driving to the departure airport.

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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 04:49 AM
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lovetotravel: Go or don't go - no one here will probably convince you one way or the other. It would be a real shame if you missed it because of cold feet though.

I assume you know asking this sort of question will just shower you w/ ridicule or pity or both. I do understand being concerned. But there have always been security concerns in the UK from the IRA 30 years ago to Islamists today. And in all that time the number of visitors injured/killed is LESS THAN the number of homicides my midsized US city has in a couple of months.

Get some perspective. Nothing in life is guaranteed - but the UK and Scotland in particular are amazingly safe.

Try to relax . . . .
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 05:36 AM
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lovetotravel if you are afraid, stay home.Your scare mongering isnt what we need.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 06:58 AM
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The whole weather thing has really got out of hand now. Ok so we had 186mm of rain a few weeks ago in one day, ok it rains every day that my garden is bright green, ok many local trains have to go slowly through the puddles (wrong type of rain) you guys never give a small wet country a break. It is not a weather attack it is just summer in the uk.

Honestly !
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 07:03 AM
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I wouldn't cancel and indeed i may well decide to go if i could.

better chance being killed or hurt in car on way to airport than by terrorists in UK- far better so don't leave the house and then hope a tornado doesn't knock it down
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 07:08 AM
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To be fair, janis, the IRA was never a threat in Scotland. The incident in Glasgow at the weekend was the first ever terrorist action in Scotland.

lovetotravel,I don't see any reason not to go, but only you can decide what your level of comfort is. It would be foolish for the organisers not to review their security plans, but I have not seen any articles about this. Where did you read this?
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 08:27 AM
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Go, and have a great time.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 09:19 AM
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Barbara: Talk about nitpicking a phrase. If you re-read my post - I said nothing about the IRA in Scotland. I was trying to put in perspective that in all the years of "troubles" whether the IRA or the present day maniacs -- in the WHOLE of the UK, fewer foreign visitors have been killed/injured than what many US cities suffer in a few months.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 09:48 AM
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janis, I read your post just fine, thank you. The OP has a very specific concern about security in Edinburgh which, as you know, is in Scotland. In all the years of IRA troubles-and I lived there then-Scotland was never threatened. Do you disagree with that? Talking about the UK as a whole doesn't really address the question and isn't particularly helpful. That is my opinion.

<I assume you know asking this sort of question will just shower you w/ ridicule or pity or both>

That's not very helpful either.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 10:01 AM
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You really don't get it. I am totally sympathetic w/ the OP - fer crying out loud. I was warning him that posting this subject him to ridicule from some - which is what happened. But NOT from me.

I also explained that the UK is a VERY safe place compared to most others.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 10:54 AM
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Read 'Freakonomics'. Guns or swimming pools? Do you smoke, drink or are you overweight? Research your age and life expectancy projections. You will actually be safer in the EU than in the USA. You can enhance your chances of survival by careful behavior. Years ago statisticians learned that drivers who had one accident would have a second one before someone who had none!
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Old Jul 3rd, 2007, 10:14 PM
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I was in Edinburgh last summer by myself and I LOVED it! I felt so much safer there than I do in most large cities in the US on a good day!!! I would think the recent security scares will only make airport security more difficult...lines, etc., but as far as being safe in Edinburgh, I say GO!!!
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